ABOUT THIS ALBUM

Album Notes

'The Heretic Priests of Amon' is Oshiego's latest release with their new drummer, Fauzzt (ex-Impiety), following their successful earlier releases such as 'Unending Carnage' and 'Woe To The Conquered'. This release consists of two epic tracks and a 'bonus track' with majestic guitar riffs, a series of tempo changes and technical extreme drumming accompanied by chugging subsonic bass and breakneck blast beat drumming syncopated to classic tremolo death metal riffs. The titular track is lyrically driven by evil practices of ancient Egyptian priests in the context of Islamic history. Umar Khan, song-writer and vocalist of Oshiego explains, "The priests of Amon were one of the most defiant groups of people who opposed the teachings of Prophet Moses. There's no better figure than that to represent such an extreme song. The dark orchestrations of these priests definitely suits the violent approach of the song."

Tom Ignatius, an indie producer based in Liverpool, quotes, “This song is by far the most aggressive and technical song Oshiego has came out with. The crazy guitar riffs and insane drumming has proven that Oshiego has matured tremendously over the years.”

Khan adds, "There were no edits, triggers or samples for this release. You'll be getting the raw energy of the band, not like most of the heavily edited rehashed stuff you get today. Be prepared for some ear-bleed!'

Oshiego will not rest and will rise to decapitate the naysayers in their time of triumph. Thrash and Destroy!

The Heretic Priests of Amon is the followup to last year's Woe to the Conquered, the full-length debut of Singapore's Oshiego. Rather than dive headfirst into another complete album, the group has decided to ply the waters with a single-length release, so the reins here are held tight at three songs and under 15 minutes. That said, this is unquestionably a positive evolution for the band. Stylistically it resonates with the prior material, an urban mesh of death and thrash metal ingredients with a mildly Eastern flair to the note progressions, but a few of the nagging discrepancies and jagged edges of the 2011 album have been smoothed over, and the result is a more entertaining and consistent set of tunes that are fit for violent consumption.

Love the huge, chunky guitar tone on this thing, it lends a lot of power to even the simplest of riffing patterns, and in particular it sounds amazing on the grinding eruptions in the verses of "Blade of the Conqueror". The higher pitched snarled vocals are still present, but the gutturals reign supreme here, and that's a good thing, because this guy's voice makes me wanna punch the fucking newspaper boy. Broad, fulfilling, and carries very well over the busier lattice of riffing. Lots of dynamics here too, from brief blasts to mid-paced clinical thrashers, tremolo picked melodies, well-fashioned lead sequences, you name it. Most importantly, the breakdowns throughout this material are far better plotted than those of Woe to the Conquered: Oshiego is always threading some slightly exotic sense of melody through or above the mosh-chop. As someone with a worldly, adventurous taste in music, but who has largely remained confined to North America in his travels (my own fault), I really appreciate getting a sense of a band's place in this world, especially a place far away from mine. Oshiego could certainly spice up this aspect of their sound further, but as it stands, their sense for explosive thrashing is excellent.

Everything is on point here, from the enthusiastic drumming to the ample bass tone (which even gets a bit funky in "Legions of the Nemesis"). It's hardly the most polished production you're like to hear, but instead fresh and bludgeoning. Try and imagine aggressive 80s thrash from bands like Sepultura, Mortal Sin and Demolition Hammer, but with vocal cues taken from old death metal luminaries like Benton, Willetts or van Drunen. The use of occasional melodic death elements also reminds me of another Asian titan, the great Intestine Baalism, who had a lot going for them in their decision to eschew strict genre boundaries. The Heretic Priests of Amon might not be so brilliantly riffy as An Anatomy of Beast or Banquet in the Darkness, and it often feels a little cluttered as they lay out one smackdown after the next, but it scratches a similar itch. Nothing but honesty here, guys who love metal playing their hearts out, never forgetting the golden rule of these genres: you're only as good as your riffs. Make them count, and make them hurt. Oshiego does both, and we're all the richer for it.

After releasing a demo in 2006, an EP in 2009, a full-length album in 2011, Oshiego are back with a new self-release single “The Heretic Priests of Amon” consisting in three tracks of death/trash metal, the Singapore 5 man formation decided to keep the glass less full but power packed and this was a clever choice, a simple but strong and beautiful single.

This is all about war, heresy and massacre and Oshiego really make their fucking point of view, as the name suggests (“The Heretic Priests of Amon”) the Egyptian factor is present (Amon was a god in Egyptian mythology, seen as king of gods and as the creative force of life) and “Blade of the Conqueror” the first song of the single starts with a nice subtle riff with notes in the element of the exotic Egyptian and throughout the music the “blade is getting more bloodied” the sound becomes heavier, the trash and death are equally balanced, each style remains well adapted, the thrash riffs makes you want to punch everything and the death voice and drums are really gore. The death metal used is very raw similar to 80s/90s but at the same very melodic, “The Heretic Priests of Amon” and “Legions of Nemesis” is where the melody is most evident and the verses are very catchy and stay on your head for hours.

A very well constructed single, this is those kinds of works that makes you realize that complex doesn’t necessarily means better, they kept it simple but brutal.

From : http://www.heavyhardmetalmania.net/2012/09/war-heresy-massacre-oshiego-returns.html

Wow, it's refreshing to see an EP in this day and age of more, more, more. And it works wonders for the craziness of Singapore's OSHIEGO, who here lay down three songs of raw (love that snare sound... just love it) blackened war/death with classic Teutonic thrash overtones. That's a damn good mix for you metallic scholars out there taking notes, combining as it does a wild and unruly take on many different aspects of our beloved extreme music. The title track in particular gets my blood boiling in all the best of ways, like a more spontaneous BEHEMOTH stuck opening for IMPIETY at a cancelled HELLHAMMER gig in some alternate reality. If this was a full-length, I might have given it an 8.0, but as is, it just leaves you wanting—needing—more. Still, definitely worth keeping tabs on these guys to see what they come up with when it comes time for their second full-length (they've released one full-length and another EP). Hopefully they keep it raw, they keep the unhinged vibe intact, and they keep taking all the best aspects of death, war, black, and heavy thrash to use for their own devious needs. Whatever they do, you can bet it'll be on a label of good repute (Hells Headbangers, you reading this?).

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